Solitary Confinement

875 words 4 pages
"Supermax" is short for "super-maximum security." It is a place designed to house violent prisoners or prisoners who might threaten the security of the guards or other prisoners. Some prisons that are not designed as supermax prisons have "control units" in which conditions are similar. The theory is that solitary confinement and sensory deprivation will bring about behavior modifications. In general, Supermax prisoners are locked into small cells for approximately 23 hours a day. They have almost no contact with other human beings. There are no group activities: no work, no educational opportunities, no eating together, no sports, no getting together with other people for religious services, and no attempts at rehabilitation. …show more content…

In a supermax, you are not allowed to go anywhere except for the exercise room so the guards know exactly what the prisoners are doing every second of the day.
One disadvantage is the controversy that the supermaxis bring along with it. Many prisoners that were once held in supermaxis believe that it was too harsh. Going twenty three hours a day in the same cell without any recreation of any kind can make a person go crazy. Many people have argued that it is not psychologically healthy. Another disadvantage of the supermaxis is that when you are in the shu, you are in there for an indefinite amount of time. If you were wrongly convicted of an action that has taken place in prison and you are placed in the shu, you are not allowed to leave unless you admit to the prison who else was involved in the act with you. If you never debrief to the officers, you will never get out of the shu.
Although I personally believe that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, the majority of the people believe the opposite. The majority of the people think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. That is why the supermaxis are so popular. If people did not like them, then they would not exist. Supermaxi's are in a high demand today and if it continues the way it has been going in recent years, the supermaxis are the prisons of the

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